Missing brothers Remus, Janko and David Matloch found safe in Lancashire after man and woman arrested in Birmingham

Remus, Janko and David Matloch vanished from their foster home on Monday saying they were going for a bike ride

Police are concerned about the whereabouts of the Matloch brothers who have been missing for several days

Three young brothers who went missing from the North East have been found “safe and well” in Lancashire after a police search that spread to Birmingham.

The Matloch brothers: Remus, 15, Janko, 12 and David, ten, were found inside a house in Accrington at about 2.30pm on Friday.

A 34-year-old man and woman, 39, who were arrested at an address in Birmingham on Wednesday night, remain in custody in the West Midlands.

They have both been arrested in connection with the boys’ disappearance.

Northumbria Police detectives were continuing to question them on Friday.

The boys had last been seen just after 6pm on Monday, shortly after they had left their foster home in Sunderland, saying they were going for a bike ride.

Supt Alan Veitch, from Sunderland Area Command, said: “We are delighted that the three boys have been found safe and well.

"We are planning to reunite them with their foster parents as soon as we can.

“We will need to speak to the boys over the next few days to piece together the full circumstances of what has happened, but of course we are just so pleased for them and their foster parents that this has been brought to a safe conclusion and that we have got the boys back.”